posted by Megan Armstrong, Billboard -
3 months ago

On Monday (Nov. 13), Blake Shelton memorialized his late brother, Richie, on the 27th anniversary of his death. Richie got into a car accident on Nov. 13, 1990, and died at 24 years-old, a loss that had a huge impact on Blake's life.

"Lost my brother 27 years ago today," Shelton tweeted. "I was only 14 at the time but it changed my life forever... Made me realize that life is precious and there's no time like RIGHT NOW to go for it... We still miss you Richie!!"

Lost my brother 27 years ago today. I was only 14 at the time but it changed my life forever... Made me realize that life is precious and there's no time like RIGHT NOW to go for it... We still miss you Richie!!

Shelton, now 41, told the Associated Press in 2011 that he was given his brother's record collection after his death. "That's one of the things I got when my brother was killed," he said. "The family gave me all his albums and things like that. I just listened to them over and over again to feel like he was there."

When Richie was alive, Shelton could hear all those records being played by his big brother across the hallway. "His bedroom was right across the hallway from mine when I was little," he told 60 Minutes in 2014. "And he was listening to Hank Williams, Jr. or Waylon, Lynyrd Skynyrd or Bob Seeger. I just, whatever was popular really, Richie loved all music. And I would be sitting there going, "Man, that guy's my hero. That's the coolest guy. He's my big brother."

A couple of hours after tweeting about Richie's death on Monday night, Shelton tweeted something his big brother surely would have been proud of him for:

"Wow....'Texoma Shore' has debuted as the #1 country album!!! I can't say THANK YOU enough to everyone who bought it!!! I love y'all!"

Wow.... "Texoma Shore" has debuted as the #1 country album!!! I can't say THANK YOU enough to everyone who bought it!!! I love y'all!